Here are the bowls that I turned green today. I turned some White Oak for the first time. It was very hard but is absolutely beautiful. I turned one of the White Oak bowls to the finished thickness and am going to see what happens!! The line up from left to right: live edge 10″ W. Oak, two Spalted Maples, 12″ W.Oak, four 6″ live edge Black Walnut.

These are two live edge Ambrosia Red Maple bowls that I roughed out this afternoon. I used my McNaughton Center Saver to core out the smaller bowl. I turned these from a green (wet) log, leaving the wall thickness approximately 10% of the diameter of the piece. These bowls are 11″ and 6″ in diameter. I will put these bowls in a paper bag with the wet shavings for several months and then return to the finished size and shape.

I had some new business cards printed recently. My cards are printed on two ply, birdseye maple veneer. Yes, they are made of real wood!! Thank-you Cards of Wood for your help!! Check out their website, they make Christmas cards as well.

Diana and I put together a booth/demonstration at the Remick Farm Harvest Fest today. I was demonstrating wood turning for the crowd. I made spinning tops that the kids could have. Diana utilized her decorating skills and did an awesome job setting up the booth. We met a lot of very nice people and had a great day!!

I roughed out some more bowls this weekend. I have found that I must convert green logs and burls into roughed out bowls as soon as possible after cutting them down. Storing green logs leads to checking and wasting of wood. Even with end sealer they will crack eventually. I have made a big dent in my green wood supply but I am thinking about selling some to help pay for my woodturning obsession!!

I spent today roughing out some more bowls. I cut up what looked like a really good Red (Soft) Maple burl that Harold Cook gave me from the Remick Farm. It had extensive internal bark seams that could cause problems. Fortunately I only lost one small bowl at this point. We will see what happens after they dry! I used my McNaughton Center Saver to gain a few extra bowls and create fewer shavings.

I started a 6″ Butternut bowl late in the day. This bowl ended my day on a sour note! It came out of a quarter sawn piece. After forming the tenon, I inserted it into the chuck for hollowing. Because the bowl was so small I decided not to support it with the tail stock. That was a mistake. I got too aggressive and broke the tenon off. I learn something every day I turn!! I will finish this one tomorrow.

I spent the day roughing out green bowls from Black Cherry Burls and a big piece of Butternut. These bowls are green (wet) and will shrink and warp as they dry. They are intentionally turned with thick walls to allow room for the shrinking and warping. If they dry to quickly they will crack and split as they dry. In order to slow the drying process I put them in a paper grocery bag with their wet shavings generated from the turning process. I will check them in a few months to see if they have lost enough moisture to be stable. Once they have stabilized, I will put them back on the lathe and true them up and finish them.

Bowls Roughed out on 4/5/14

Green Bowls Roughed out on 4/5/14 – Black Cherry & Butternut

Live Edge Black Cherry and Butternut – Rough Green

The bowls on the left are from Black Cherry burls and the two on the right are Butternut. They are all “live edge”, meaning that the rims are not flat.

Tim, forester at Forest Land Improvement, found a living American Chestnut tree on his parents woodlot. This is a rare occurrence because the American Chestnut tree species was essentially wiped out by the Chestnut Blight. Tim harvested the tree before it died and gave me a section of the tree to turn. I made eight 6″ bowls from the piece that he gave me. I also got some pen blanks. I rough turned the bowls and they are currently drying in paper bags with their green shavings. Here are a few pictures of some of the bowls.

Winter is a busy time for me in many ways. Work is crazy and on the weekend I can ride my snowmobile. My turning tends to slow during this time but I always end up collecting a significant amount of green wood to be turned. This winter was no exception as I have a huge amount to turn this year. I want to thank Ben and Aaron from Hicks Logging, Dick and Smokey from 3D Logging, Harold from the Remick Farm, and Tim from Forest Land Improvement for the wood that they gave me this winter.